Former Finance Minister Tonio Fenech tried to sell a Honda CRV for €7,900 after he bought it from the government for just under €2,000, the Labour Party’s newspaper KullHadd reports today.

The sale of the car was advertised on a local website, but it was withdrawn when controversy erupted last week over how the car was bought by Mr Fenech, the newspaper says.

The car was originally valued at €25,000 when it was allocated to Mr Fenech for use as his second car. He bought it for €1,908.

Mr Fenech insists he followed the rules when he bought the car and the value was established according to a government formula.

When contacted by Times of Malta last week, Mr Fenech said that he had used the car for nine years and paid tax on it in the form of a levy on fringe benefits.

“Please note that I could have taken the yearly allowance of €7,000, which, after nine years, would amount to €63,000. Instead, I opted for the use of a car, which, after nine years, I bought for about €2,000”, he said.